Urban population growth (annual %) in Australia
Australia: Urban population growth (annual %) was 1.7% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Urban population growth in Australia, 1961–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN). Measured in annual %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for urban population growth in Australia is 1.7%, measured in 2025.
That represents a change of down 21.2% on the previous year and up 3.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, urban population growth in Australia peaked at 3.7% in 1971 and was at its lowest, 0.1%, in 2021.
That places Australia 87th out of 218 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 65 years of available data.
Urban population growth (annual %) in Australia, year by year
| Year | annual % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 2.4% | — |
| 1962 | 2.8% | +15.5% |
| 1963 | 2.2% | -21.0% |
| 1964 | 2.2% | +1.1% |
| 1965 | 2.2% | +0.9% |
| 1966 | 2.6% | +17.2% |
| 1967 | 1.8% | -32.4% |
| 1968 | 2.4% | +36.8% |
| 1969 | 2.8% | +14.3% |
| 1970 | 2.5% | -8.5% |
| 1971 | 3.7% | +45.9% |
| 1972 | 2.0% | -46.2% |
| 1973 | 1.7% | -16.6% |
| 1974 | 2.6% | +58.3% |
| 1975 | 1.3% | -50.7% |
| 1976 | 1.0% | -21.0% |
| 1977 | 1.1% | +7.4% |
| 1978 | 1.1% | +0.0% |
| 1979 | 1.0% | -9.4% |
| 1980 | 1.1% | +13.1% |
| 1981 | 1.5% | +30.9% |
| 1982 | 1.6% | +11.0% |
| 1983 | 1.3% | -23.3% |
| 1984 | 1.1% | -13.0% |
| 1985 | 1.3% | +14.4% |
| 1986 | 1.4% | +13.0% |
| 1987 | 1.5% | +7.9% |
| 1988 | 1.6% | +8.1% |
| 1989 | 1.7% | +3.6% |
| 1990 | 1.5% | -12.6% |
| 1991 | 1.3% | -14.3% |
| 1992 | 1.1% | -13.4% |
| 1993 | 0.9% | -22.4% |
| 1994 | 0.9% | +7.0% |
| 1995 | 1.1% | +15.4% |
| 1996 | 1.2% | +9.1% |
| 1997 | 1.0% | -11.3% |
| 1998 | 0.9% | -7.7% |
| 1999 | 1.1% | +11.4% |
| 2000 | 1.1% | +6.3% |
| 2001 | 1.3% | +18.5% |
| 2002 | 1.3% | -2.6% |
| 2003 | 1.3% | -0.0% |
| 2004 | 1.2% | -7.7% |
| 2005 | 1.3% | +11.5% |
| 2006 | 1.5% | +12.5% |
| 2007 | 2.0% | +33.0% |
| 2008 | 2.2% | +7.8% |
| 2009 | 2.2% | +1.2% |
| 2010 | 1.7% | -23.7% |
| 2011 | 1.5% | -9.0% |
| 2012 | 1.9% | +24.4% |
| 2013 | 1.9% | -0.7% |
| 2014 | 1.7% | -11.1% |
| 2015 | 1.6% | -2.6% |
| 2016 | 1.7% | +6.4% |
| 2017 | 1.8% | +3.1% |
| 2018 | 1.6% | -9.3% |
| 2019 | 1.6% | -2.8% |
| 2020 | 1.2% | -23.4% |
| 2021 | 0.1% | -91.7% |
| 2022 | 1.4% | +1307.9% |
| 2023 | 2.6% | +86.0% |
| 2024 | 2.1% | -18.9% |
| 2025 | 1.7% | -21.2% |
Australia compared with similar countries
- Australia's 1.7% is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.6%, 2.6× the median. (85 countries reporting)
- Australia's 1.7% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 0.9%, 1.8× the median. (37 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Urban population growth (annual %) in Australia changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | +1307.9% | 0.1% | 1.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 2.4% | 1.8% | 2.8% | 9 |
| 1970s | 1.8% | 1.0% | 3.7% | 10 |
| 1980s | 1.4% | 1.1% | 1.7% | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.1% | 0.9% | 1.5% | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.5% | 1.1% | 2.2% | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.7% | 1.5% | 1.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.5% | 0.1% | 2.6% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Australia
- 84 Kazakhstan 1.7% compare
- 85 East Timor 1.7% compare
- 86 Turkmenistan 1.7% compare
- 88 Nicaragua 1.6% compare
- 89 Cape Verde 1.6% compare
- 90 Maldives 1.6% compare
More climate change data for Australia
- Nutrient nitrogen N (total) — Synthetic fertilizers (Agricultural) 1.30 billion kg (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) 118,578 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 34,162 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 84,416 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 128.91 kt (2050)
- Emissions from livestock — Emissions 3,015 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) 12,473 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O 10,966 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 1,507 kt (2050)
- Emissions from crops — Emissions 41.38 kt (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is urban population growth in Australia?
- Urban population growth in Australia was 1.7% in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest urban population growth recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 3.7% in 1971.
- What is the lowest urban population growth recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.1% in 2021.
- How does Australia rank for urban population growth?
- Australia ranks 87th out of 218 countries with data for 2025.
- Is urban population growth rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 3.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Australia data come from?
- The figures come from World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Urban population growth (annual %). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 65 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Annual urban population growth rate for year t is the exponential rate of growth of midyear urban population from year t-1 to t, expressed as a percentage. Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated using World Bank total population estimates and urban ratios from the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects.